Few would dispute the statement that Metalheadz founder Goldie has shaped drum and bass as we know it today. With his distinct physical features (yeah the gold teeth and the gold jewelry) and equally distinct artistic output, its mandatory attendance when he plays here.

So on this incredibly balmy September night it was off to the Prince of Wales where the Elementz crew were playing host not only to Goldie, but also to Ram records hottest new thing, Subfocus. Local support was from the likes of Motiv, JPS, Seven and Blanco.

Upon arrival at the refurbished Prince JPS was spinning a selection of upbeat dance floor friendly tunes. Already the dance floor was grooving as people soaked up the easily accessible sound and remained there as he steered the set into some darker, tech-ier territory.

Undoubtedly one of the years biggest dance floor smashers has been Sufocus’ “X-Ray.” The combination of the ‘borrowed’ Nirvana bass line and the sing-along melody makes it instantly recognisable and always sends the crowd into frenzy whenever it’s played. So when it was dropped in the mix by its creator it was hardly surprising to see not only the crowd bounce, but MC Lowqui dancing across the limited stage space. Although the set was very party oriented, it was not superficial and without depth. It was an energetic set that remained consistent and true to the Ram sound. Cuts from Pendulum featured heavily in the set (Slam, and their Bacteria remix), as did of course Subfocus’ own material, their reinterpretation of the Prodigy’s “Smack my Bitch Up” as well as a tease of “Ghost” to name a few. Loqwi provided the necessary back up vocally but did not impose himself on the set. I’ve got to say I really enjoyed having a dance to this set!

Lowqui heralded Goldie’s opening track with the proclamation that “this is brand new from Metalheadz” it was D Kay and Lee’s “Sunset,” a typical Metalheadz sounding tune, with spacey vocals and growling bass. It was a great introduction to a set that was going to go deeper and really explore sound as always Goldie does.  In contrast to Subfocus, Goldie mixed tunes in longer, letting them soak into the crowd. The tunes also had more depth and space to them. There was the VIP remix of D Bridges “Bellini” (one of my faves) some Calyx and Photek’s distinct driving track “Age of Empires.”

Special mention to visuals on the night. At times, they were quite bizarre, the Cupie dolls and Barbies with John Howard’s heads on them even provoked a response from Lowqui, even if it was “what the f**k is that?”

While I didn’t stay around too much into Goldie’s set, it wasn’t because I Was dissatisfied, more the opposite, I was really satisfied after experiencing two quite different sets that demonstrated the great diversity within the genre we know as drum and bass. Once again, thanks to Elementz and all involved for giving Melbournians a chance to hear these artists live.